Field of the Invention
This invention relates to creating and maintaining snapshots in a storage system.
Description of the Related Art
As computer memory storage and data bandwidth increase, so does the amount and complexity of data that businesses daily manage. Large-scale distributed storage systems, such as data centers, typically run many business operations. A datacenter, which also may be referred to as a server room, is a centralized repository, either physical or virtual, for the storage, management, and dissemination of data pertaining to one or more businesses. A distributed storage system may be coupled to client computers interconnected by one or more networks. If any portion of the distributed storage system has poor performance, company operations may be impaired. A distributed storage system therefore maintains high standards for data availability and high-performance functionality.
Many techniques have been employed by storage systems to maintain high performance. For example, snapshots may be utilized to capture and store data at a particular point in time. A snapshot may be taken of a logical volume, and the snapshot may be stored to preserve the contents of the volume. If the data associated with the volume is later lost or corrupted, the volume can be restored from the snapshot.
As the amount of data corresponding to a snapshot increases, and as the overall number of snapshots being taken and stored increases, the storage utilization and processing overhead of the storage system likewise increases. Current techniques for taking and storing snapshots are inefficient and unduly increase the complexity, processing load, and storage requirements of the storage system.
In view of the above, systems and methods for efficiently creating and managing snapshots are desired.